What’s your advice for cross eye-dominance?
First shotgun recommendations?
- Thread starter Skeebap
- Start date
Is the OP right handed or left handed? Many of the common shotgun manufacturers have no cast to the rear stock. And if you find a gun with cast it’s usually cast-off intended for the large right handed market. As a southpaw I’ve never come across a cast-on mass produced stock and only boutique guns (read expensive) off the choice or replacement stocks. Cheapest I’ve seen on the rack was a Browning 725 LH at $4k. I had a 725 Sporting with adj comb at the time that worked ok.
Best trap guns I owned and won ATA pewter and belt buckles with were a used Rem 1100 Trap, and a LH Rem 11-87 Premiere Trap I had to order in. There are tons of used barrels to buy for used Rem RH semi-autos and they are a cheaper system than the Italian semi shotguns. I also used a Beretta Teknys and liked it very much, passed it onto my son. Semi-autos have half the recoil which for me is a plus
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Best advice I ever got was is someone tells you “This is the only way” or “You have to do this…” smile and listen respectfully. Then disregard most of what they said.
Best trap guns I owned and won ATA pewter and belt buckles with were a used Rem 1100 Trap, and a LH Rem 11-87 Premiere Trap I had to order in. There are tons of used barrels to buy for used Rem RH semi-autos and they are a cheaper system than the Italian semi shotguns. I also used a Beretta Teknys and liked it very much, passed it onto my son. Semi-autos have half the recoil which for me is a plus
.Best advice I ever got was is someone tells you “This is the only way” or “You have to do this…” smile and listen respectfully. Then disregard most of what they said.
Try shooting off of the other shoulder.
Sights4Nights
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- the End of the Laneway
Go down the 870 rabbit hole. It goes together and comes apart like Lego. There’s plenty of stock sets, sight options, barrels, parts and's magazine extensions available everywhere. You can buy one cheap and build anything you need and change it up whenever for whatever reasons. Once the mag tube is swaged the sky is the limit really.
I love the 590A1 and have used one for everything from grouse,deer, turkey, and 3 gun competition. That being said for wing shooting it handles like a chunk of 4x4. I'd buy a sporting shotgun to start like a Wingmaster 870, Winchester 1200 etc or one of the many surplus over and unders from site sponsors and then buy a tactical shotgun later.
So you must be like me. Same dominant eye and handedness. For us it’s so easy to say something like that isn’t it?
I never say it. I’d rather educate the new shooter about things like magic-dots if they want to shoot both eyes open. My brother is RH L-eyed. Using one eye then learning to use a very small magic-dot as instructed to him shooting International Trap which makes ATA seem kindergartenish, he got to be a 26-AA-A in three seasons then moved on to long range shooting and F-Class. 2.5 years of it and he’s going to England in 2026 on Team Canada. My point is he’s a helluva shot and found his way with alternate solutions than ‘switching to LH’.
Not better solutions just alternate solutions. Like I stated before, many ways to skin a cat. As well, like I also suggested, I’m smiling as I read your advice about the other shoulder.
I never said that shooting off of the other shoulder was the perfect solution, but I would be trying that before resorting to closing an eye, or obstructing an eye. I have seen people do well at trap by closing or obstructing an eye, but I haven't seen many people do as well using that idea at sporting clays or even skeet.
I have to agree with you for clays and skeet. You bet if a target may be coming from the sides or varying like sporting clays both eyes open is almost a must. And should be pursued with things like the off shoulder. Especially if it’s a novice shooter to begin with that hasn’t developed much muscle memory.
With casual trap shooting it’s not so important.
Cross dominant shooters who can't shoot on the opposite side can occlude their dominant eye forcing the other eye to work harder. Put some clear Scotch tape on the lens of your shooting glasses or even a light smear of grease or lip balm.
The tacticool shotguns have become quite fashionable these days, and manufacturers are happy to oblige. I run the shotgun range at our local club. We frequently get new, younger members showing up with these guns. Short barrelled guns, in particular, have proven to be absolutely useless, as the owners quickly realize after going 0 for 25 shooting trap. One fella almost shot his leading hand that slipped forward upon recoil.
Get a standard pump gun - Remington, Mossberg, Winchester, Benelli, etc are all comparable and go for ~500$. Dont get sucked in to extended magazine tubes, as you will never need/use the extra capacity at the range or in the field. A pump gun covers all the bases, with simplicity and reliability. If you get more involved in shotgunning you can pick up dedicated sporting and field guns later on, with needing the internet for advice.
Get a standard pump gun - Remington, Mossberg, Winchester, Benelli, etc are all comparable and go for ~500$. Dont get sucked in to extended magazine tubes, as you will never need/use the extra capacity at the range or in the field. A pump gun covers all the bases, with simplicity and reliability. If you get more involved in shotgunning you can pick up dedicated sporting and field guns later on, with needing the internet for advice.
If caught loading load "8 or 9 shells" into your gun on most clay target courses you'll be escorted out the front gate. If you are caught loading "8 or 9 shells" while hunting expect a hefty fine in most jurisdictions.
Loading more than two rounds on a skeet or sporting clays field will usually get you one warning, then you are gone. I did observe one idiot load five rounds on the trap line, because he thought it would be more efficient to load enugh rounds for an entire station, he received the one warning as well.
